Friday, August 6, 2010

The Sweetest Trolls #3: The Most Horrid Torture -- #FridayFlash






This is the third installment of the troll serial. If you missed the previous ones, you can start from the beginning here. Have fun! :)


*
Kratan blinked awake in the twilight, realizing at once that something was wrong. He wrinkled his nose and scratched his shoulder. He almost fell off when seeing Kutril's flared nostrils, ready to shower a sleeping girl with his goober. Holding his itching nose, he extended his other hand to squeeze Kutril's arm and pointed down. Kutril's eyes widened and he copied Katran.

Making muted choking noises they took off their garlands and turned to the river. Katran plunged his head on water to sneeze as soundlessly as he could, afraid to wake Aimee.


He proceeded by doing the most hideous thing in the world; he washed himself while watching Kutril dip his head into water, take a deep breath, and dip it again and again.

After assuring that Aimee hadn't moved, the cleanest trolls in the world sat by the river and conferenced quietly.


“What in the gods’ mind is happening here?” asked Katran. “Why would someone do this to us?”


Kutril looked around and up, searching instead of replying.


“Is this your uncle’s doing Kutril?”


Kutril sniffed the air.


“That old bastard,” said Katran between gritted teeth. “Every time he passes by something terrible happens. This time he’s gone too far I tell you, too far!”


“Psst,” said Kutril, “this is not uncle’s deed. He would have dropped dead of laughter by now.” He grinned at the memory of his mirth. So many years have passed since he’s heard uncle’s laughter. “Besides, he can smell a flower fifty meters away and he’ll risk his life to change course to deviate it.”


Katran opened his mouth in awe of this new information about the legendary troll.


“Who would do something this terrible to us then?” asked Katran. “I mean, the humans would kill us, but not torture us like this, would they?”


Kutril shook his head, thinking.


“There’s no one here besides us and the girl,” he said after a while.
They both gazed at Aimee’s peaceful countenance and smiled. They looked at each other, and at her again. Rising to their feet they joined their heads, cautiously this time.


"Is that the girl you were talking about yesterday?" asked Kratan.


"Dunno; it could be," said Kutril.


“I’ve heard once men talking about girls. They said they aren’t much intelligent, you know?” said Kratan, pointing to his own temple.


“You’ve been listening too much to the humans,” said Kutril, gravely.


Katran looked down, making round patterns on the ground with his feet.


“But,” added Kutril, “if what you heard is right, the girl might not know that flowers,” he spitted, “are no good to us. And since we were made into stone, we had no way of telling her.”


This lightened Katran’s eyes.


“Yes, she’s lost and she’s not smart enough to make fire for herself, so she might not be able to find food. Look how tiny and skinny she is, the poor thing.”


Kutril watched Aimee sideways and repeated, “Poor thing.” He nodded to himself. “We should get her something to eat then.”


Katran was about to agree when his face closed in a pout. “Does this mean we’ll have to come back there?”


“We would have to, anyway. The goats are there, aren’t they?”


“The goats!” Katran grinned, drooling a bit in the process.


Their stomaches roared, they looked down and up again, nodded to each other, quickly renewed the fire and set towards the human village.




I've joined WeSeWrimo, so on the month of August you can count on the Troll Serial being updated weekly. :)

34 comments:

  1. Another good installment! I'm wondering what they'll bring for her to eat. Should be interesting...

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  2. Hm, yes. What will they bring her?

    Clean trolls...that was very polite, to sneeze underwater though. Funny!

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  3. --Eric and Laura: Next week? ;P

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  4. I love these guys. They're actually pretty smart for trolls, too, figuring out Aimee didn't know they hated flowers.

    Well done, Mari. Can't wait for the next one. :)

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  5. What sweet trolls! I love how the worst thing in the world is to bathe. :)

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  6. My kids pile "pretties" on me while I'm asleep too. (toy cars and stuffed animals and such). This is so sweet and I love the ref pic you picked out.

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  7. Great story. I like how he had to sneeze underwater. Hysterical. I'm curious about what they're going to feed her. I have a bad feeling about it! Should be fun and can't wait to read the next one.

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  8. The most hideous thing in the world is a shower? If that's what repels trolls it's a great argument for good hygiene... :D

    Great concept. Love the story.

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  9. --Gracie: Hmm, the fact is that no one besides trolls know that they're allergic to flowers. If you think they figured out for themselves, it means I didn't do such a good job this time.

    Glad the story entertained you, at least. :)

    --T.S and Monica: I see them, sort of, as sweet big kids. ;)

    --Maria: Glad to know you found it funny too. Laughing at one's jokes is kind of dangerous, heh.

    --ganymeder: Flowers are more effective, although they hate (being washed by) water more than flowers. ;)

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  10. I giggled at reading the part where they did the "worst thing in the world" and cleaned themselves. :-) This seems like a very entertaining serial, and I didn't realize you were part of WeSeWriMo, too!

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  11. Love the trolls :) Can't wait to see what they think she'll eat!

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  12. World's cleanest trolls... heh!
    Why do trolls have to goober anyway?
    Must be a troll thing... such cute little beggars, the way you write 'em.
    Keep up the good work!

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  13. Surely the humans can spare a goat or two. Or six.

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  14. --A.M.: I am! Let's see if I can keep up with the moderated goal I set for myself, heh. Ah, I added you as a buddy back at the WeSeWrimo forum. :)

    --Jemi: Thanks dear! Do come back next week to find out.

    --John: Six? That's a banquet for these famished trolls! ;)

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  15. I love these trolls, but ewww, he's got his finger up his nose, and it's dripping. ;)

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  16. Aww, cuteness here again - the cleanest trolls: ha, brilliant!

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  17. --Sam: They don't really like being clean. Sorry about the dripping? (lol)

    --mazzz: it seems that there's always cuteness here Maria. I can't seem to write some good horror as you do. Maybe one day? ;)

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  18. These guys are cute; I love the misunderstandings between the trolls & humans. Classic.

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  19. --Aidan: Misunderstandings are always fun to write, heh.

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  20. I'm glad to see they're back - and also thinking things through! It's nice to see them also thinking of Aimee's welfare. Can't wait to see more from them!

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  21. --Icy: Thanks! These guys are very kind hearted, of course they're concerned about Aimee's welfare. ;) As for thinking, it hurts their head, but they want to understand things that seem out of reach. Let's see how far they go.

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  22. Clever Mari! What a cute series this is. I like these trolls.

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  23. Haha loved it when he had to sneeze under water- great story Mari! I wonder what they’re going to bring to her…
    Got to love the trolls!! :)

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  24. --G.P.: Thanks!

    --Lua: If I had to meet trolls, I'd like them to be these ones. The others are, err, scary? hhe

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  25. This continues to be cute. I hope they don't try to give her troll food, unless they also eat delicious things. Like... goats? ;-)

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  26. Hi,

    I found you through the Blog Hop. I took a look around and thought that your blog is great! So I decided to follow you. Anyway, check out my blog as well: http://johnsmithbooks.blogspot.com/

    Warmest regards,
    John Smith (pen name)

    P.S. - I think that I'm a fan of trolls now.

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  27. --Valerie: I didn't know you found goats a delicious meal. I need to introduce you personally to Katran and Kutril then, you'll like each other. ;P

    --John: Please feel most welcome to Randomities and thanks for the follow and the kind comment. :)

    Popping in your blog now. ;)

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  28. Clean trolls?! My, but you do have quite the imagination Mari. :)

    Fun story with excellent descriptions, making it easy to visualize these two.

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  29. Such a cute troll tale! Great story, Mari. Can't wait to read more about them. :)

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  30. --Deanna: Why thank you! You got me grinning with your kind words. :D

    --Melissa: Thanks! My hopes are that another installment will be up this week. Let's see.

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  31. Holy Moly, I thought this was this weeks story. I'm a bit turned around. I haven't kept up with your troll series, but how fun this was. I really liked this "Kutril's flared nostrils, ready to shower a sleeping girl with his goober."

    Eekk, Mari! You're funny. <3

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  32. --Jodi: I'm sorry dear that I caused your confusion. I haven't had the mind, to go on with the stories after all computer problems I'm having. I'll see if I can post something this weekend, but it's a long shot.

    Glad you're liking the story so far. :)

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  33. I'm sorry to say that I'm catching up after weeks of not reading friday flash stories, but I'm loving these troll's logic. The girl can't be very smart (the village men said that, so it has to be true) and is therefore lost and needs shelter and food. It's an easy equation to solve!

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  34. --Lena: Thanks for catching up here at Rantomities. I really appreciate it. :)

    Yup, these guys are very simple minded and kind, despite of being, well, trolls, heh.

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